St Gilbert, Wickford SOS and Wick Green

It was great to celebrate St Gilbert's Day on Wick Green today with Wickford SOS, Revd Sue Wise and the Mayor of Basildon. Congratulations to Wickford SOS for securing Wick Green's future as green space.

Here's the brief reflection I shared before leading prayers:

It is a pleasure to be with you today celebrating the life of St Gilbert and celebrating Wick Green being placed under the protection of The Fields In Trust, for which many congratulations to all involved with Wickford SOS.

From small beginnings, St Gilbert built a chain of 26 convents, monasteries and missions. He was unique in his time being the only person in Medieval England to found a conventual order and to include women, as well as men, in his order. The Gilbertines became known for "the plate of the Lord Jesus", whereby the best portions of the dinner were put on a special plate and shared with those who were poor. This reflected Gilbert’s lifelong concern for people less fortunate than himself. As he inherited his father’s wealth, Gilbert could have lived a life of luxury, as many of his fellow priests did at the time, but, instead, he chose to share his wealth with those who were poor.

Wickford SOS will, likewise, have had a small beginning and yet became a movement sufficient to achieve the aim of having Wick Green placed under the protection of The Fields In Trust in order to protect local green space, wildlife and residents quality of life. Just as St Gilbert’s life and witness are an inspiration, so is the work of Wickford SOS.

The churches in Wickford and Runwell, like the Gilbertines, are seeking to support those most in need in our community through The Gateway Project, the Foodbank for Wickford and Runwell which is hosted by The Salvation Army. We remain grateful for all the ways in which people from the wider community support that initiative and, thereby, provide help to those less fortunate than ourselves. Then, like Wickford SOS, we are seeking to raise awareness of environmental issues and support for a planet that is threatened by human activity. Together, the churches are planning an Arts Festival from 13 – 26 May that will be called ‘One Beautiful World’ and that, through the Arts, will seek to celebrate our one beautiful world and draw attention to environmental issues and concerns.

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Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi.

Church in Action: National Survey

Last October I provided information to the Church in Action survey about the social issues in the parish of St John's Seven Kings and the ways in which the church is supporting people in the community.

Today, the final report of this survey is being launched with findings which are impressive in showing the scale of Anglican churches' involvement in their local communities, from food banks and parent toddler groups to night shelters and lunch clubs.

'Social action is not an optional side project for the Church; it is core to its heart and mission. The commitment to this calling can be clearly seen in the scale and diversity of activities offered by local churches, ranging from food banks and debt advice, to lunch clubs and fitness classes. Not only do churches offer services that meet specific needs, they also create spaces for people to connect with and get to know others, helping to build stronger and more resilient communities. Over the last few years, there has been renewed recognition of the vital contribution churches make to our society and to the common good. Their presence within communities enables churches to offer holistic and relational support to people who are struggling with different aspects of poverty: a lack of resources, an absence of strong and supportive relationships and/or a poor sense of self-worth. This report reveals the scale and nature of Anglican social action in England. It does not capture the extensive and vital work being done by churches of other denominations. In sharing the results of our recent survey, we are able to highlight and celebrate the contribution that churches are already making to their local communities.

The key findings are:

• 95% of church leaders believe that tackling poverty in their local area is a vital activity for a healthy church – 59% agree strongly, up from 44% in 2011. Furthermore, the proportion of leaders saying this is a fundamental part of the mission of their church has increased from 44% to 53% in the last three years. 
• Loneliness is seen as the most significant social problem in local communities – cited by 64% of church leaders – followed by family breakdown, debt, lack of self-esteem and low income. 
• 87% of churches support people who are experiencing loneliness, either by providing organised activities (46%) or informal help (41%). On average, churches are addressing seven social issues, and a third are tackling nine or more. 
• The scale of church-based social action is impressive: 76% of churches run activities in local schools, 66% help to run food banks, 60% offer parent and toddler groups and 53% organise lunch clubs or drop-ins.
• The number of churches involved in running food banks has doubled in the last three years. A fifth of churches are also involved in helping credit unions in some way, a strong show of support for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s initiative.'

The full report and the summary can be downloaded at: www.cuf.org.uk/church-in-action.

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Mavis Staples - In Christ There Is No East Or West.

Debate about foodbanks and food poverty

A few weeks ago Jack Monroe started a petition to get Parliament to debate hunger in the UK and why there's been a rise in the use of foodbanks. She thought she'd work steadily towards 100,000 signers over a few months and aim for a debate by Spring. She was wrong about that, and explains here how the story developed: 
 

"Within a day more than 60,000 people had signed and the campaign made the frontpage of the Independent. Within two weeks you helped the campaign reach 142,000 signers and on Wednesday we secured our goal of a debate in Parliament.

 

People going hungry in the UK has been a quiet secret for too long now, often only seen by the volunteers dealing with an increasing number of families turning to foodbanks. This petition changed that: #Foodbanks was trending on Twitter, the campaign reached the newspaper frontpages -- and most importantly MPs sat for three hours and heard story after story of what it is like to struggle in modern Britain. 

 

Over 60 Labour MPs requested to speak at the debate and they took turns to tell the stories of their constituents. We heard about the ex-serviceman who turned to a foodbank while waiting for four weeks for Atos to deal with his appeal. The story of two hungry young boys who came to ask for one packet of cereal and one packet of drinking chocolate as a treat. And we heard of the man whose benefits were sanctioned when he couldn't attend an assessment interview because he was in hospital with his wife who was seriously ill with cancer. 

 

Unfortunately Government ministers held their party line. Esther McVey said: "it is right to say that more people are visiting foodbanks, as we would expect.” And while Iain Duncan Smith turned up for the debate -- a victory in itself -- he chose not to stick around and snuck out half way through. 

We should be proud of what we achieved through this petition. MPs were reminded of the people that they are there to represent. And while some of them might try to drown out the stories with jeers and laughter -- these stories are now out in the open for all to see. They are on the official Hansard record and can't be ignored any longer. 

 

This debate is just the start - we'll be back in the New Year fighting food poverty - because hunger isn't going to go away. If your MP is one of the shameful 296 who voted against the motion to investigate foodbank use - why not invite them to go along with you to visit a Trussell Trust foodbank in the new year.  

 

There are lots of other ways you can get involved to help foodbanks in your area -- check out The Mirror who have been backing this campaign for more details."

 

The Observer reports today that "Iain Duncan Smith, the embattled work and pensions secretary, is refusing to meet leaders of the rapidly expanding Christian charity that has set up more than 400 food banks across the UK, claiming it is "scaremongering" and has a clear political agenda.

 

The news will fuel a growing row over food poverty, as church leaders and the Labour party accuse ministers of failing to recognise the growing crisis hitting hundreds of thousands of families whose incomes are being squeezed, while food prices soar."

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Thea Gilmore - Midwinter Toast.